Category: Slice of Life

Stormy Friday

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"Chromebook" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.5, 1/100 sec, ISO640
 “Chromebook” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?

Well, it’s Friday, and another weekend is upon us. Here in the States, we have a long weekend because Monday we are observing Memorial Day to honor our soldiers who gave their lives so that we may enjoy our freedom and way of life. We don’t have any special plans for Monday, so we’ll probably put up our flag and take it easy at home.

Last night a huge storm passed over the area and dumped a lot of rain down on us. It was pretty scary and there’s a lot of flooding, although the area that our house is in is not in any danger. But it is still scary because we live on the edge of tornado country. 😬 I imagine that with climate change happening more quickly than we thought, the severe weather will only get worse. Scary to think about!

Anyways, today’s photo is of my Chromebook which is still very useful. I am actually using it right now to type this blog post! I realize that one of the things that is important to me in my electronics is battery life. That’s one reason I love my Kindle (lasts months on a single charge) and my Chromebook (10 hours continuous battery life!). I also realize that I cannot just use a tablet as my main mobile device because I need a real keyboard. The laptop form-factor is perfect for me to work on my blog. But, I know that I need another more robust computer as well, to run Lightroom and store all my photos, handle backups, downloads, and general computing. So, a two computer setup is essential at this time in my life.

Well, I am going to read my book. It’s an action-packed fantasy page-turner! I am enjoying “Furies of Calderon” very much so far.

I hope you had a nice Friday!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

A scene

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"Alice & Cheshire Cat" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.2, 1/100 sec, ISO2500
 “Alice & Cheshire Cat” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello, how’s it going?

So, today’s photo is a little scene I created from stuff that is on my desk in the home office. It looks like a scene out of Alice and Wonderland, doesn’t it? But you probably recognize the cat as the catbus from “My Neighbor Totoro”. This particular catbus is a little fridge magnet, but I have it attached to an old Suntory beer can, which I have had for 25 year or so.

I took a few different pics of this scene, some in black and white, but I thought the color version looked better. I used the Fujifilm “Classic Chrome” film simulation, with no extra in-camera adjustments, but in Lightroom I applied the same presets as my previous photos, and I kept the original crop. I love the Classic Chrome colors… they look so cool! The Fujifilm film simulations are so beautiful… Velvia is awesome, Provia is good all-around, and of course the black and white simulations are so versatile. I think the simulations are my favorite feature of the Fujifilm cameras.

You know, it’s fun to set up little scenes like this photo although I rarely do it. I guess because I don’t have too many toys and also probably because I lack that type of creativity. Or maybe I am just lazy! At any rate, I hope you enjoy the photo. 😄

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Homework time

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"The Hermit of Homework" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/60 sec, ISO1250
 “The Hermit of Homework” Cedar Park, 2016

こんばんは！ Hello! How’s it going?

There’s not a whole lot going on today, so I’ll just talk a little about the photo above. It’s of my son Koa working on his Japanese homework, while wearing a blanket over his head. He actually reminds me of a Jedi, or maybe Yoda. I took this photo using Fujifilm’s black and white + yellow filter film simulation, +2 shadows, -1/3 exposure, and dropped the exposure even more in Lightroom, added a strong vignette, adjusted curves a bit, added some grain, and cropped 4×5. I liked the look of this one, so I saved the settings to a pre-set, which I applied to the photo below. I think it came out nicely!

"Kitty!" Cedar Park, 2016
Photo info: FUJIFILM X100T, 23mm, f/2.8, 1/550 sec, ISO800
 “Kitty!” Cedar Park, 2016

I might have found a nice black and white look that I’ll see if I can replicate in the future.

I hope you had a nice day, and I’ll see you tomorrow!

おやすみなさい！

– B Barron Fujimoto

Vin’s last year

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We’ve been enjoying watching baseball on MLB.TV this year, thanks to T-mobile’s perk to its customers. It’s so great to be able to see all of the Dodger games live, and to hear Vin Scully call the game. But the other day when we were watching, I started thinking about how different Dodger baseball will be starting next year after Vin Scully retires.

For all my life (and pretty much all Dodger fans), I’ve listened to Vin call the games… and I am of the generation that will remember sitting in Dodger Stadium, hearing Vin’s voice filling the air from all the transistor radios that people would bring to the game. It was quite an auditory spectacle, and something that ended when scoreboards got more elaborate and transistor radios became less common. I’m so happy to have experienced that period of history!

There were three magical things about a game at Dodger Stadium for me. Hearing Vin’s voice over the radios, listening to Nancy Bea Hefley/Helen Dell playing the organ, and eating Farmer John Dodger Dogs. Sadly, only the Dodger Dogs will be left after this year is over.

It’s going to be very odd knowing that Vin will not be calling any more games, but I am glad we all got to enjoy many, many years of his amazing work.